How to Connect DBeaver to Salesforce via a JDBC Driver

The CData JDBC Driver for Salesforce implements JDBC standards that enable third-party tools to interoperate, from wizards in IDEs to business intelligence tools. This article shows how to connect to Salesforce data with wizards in DBeaver and browse data in the DBeaver GUI.

Getting Started

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Create a JDBC Data Source for Salesforce Data

Follow the steps below to load the driver JAR in DBeaver.

1. Open the DBeaver application and, in the "Database" menu, select the "Driver Manager" option. Click "New" to open the "Create new driver" form.
2. In the Settings tab:
   • Set Driver Name to a user-friendly name for the driver (e.g. CData JDBC Driver for Salesforce).
   • Set Class Name to the class name for the JDBC driver: cdata.jdbc.salesforce.SalesforceDriver.
   • Set URL Template to jdbc:salesforce:.
   👁 Configure the new driver settings (Salesforce is shown).
   
3. In the Libraries tab, click "Add File," navigate to the "lib" folder in the installation directory (C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] XXXX\) and select the JAR file (cdata.jdbc.Salesforce.jar). 👁 Loading the JDBC JAR file (Salesforce is shown).
   

Create a Connection to Salesforce Data

Follow the steps below to add credentials and other required connection properties.

1. In the "Database" menu, click "New Database Connection."
2. In the "Connect to a database" wizard that results, select the driver you just created (e.g. CData JDBC Driver for Salesforce) and click "Next >." 👁 Selecting the driver (Salesforce is shown).
   
3. On the Main tab of the configuration wizard, set the JDBC URL, using the required connection properties:

   There are several authentication methods available for connecting to Salesforce: OAuth, Login (or basic), and SSO. The Login method requires you to have the username, password, and security token of the user.

   OAuth Authentication (default)

   The default authentication mechanism (and the one preferred by Salesforce) is OAuth. To use OAuth with CData's embedded OAuth application, leave the connection properties blank. If you have configured your own custom OAuth application with Salesforce (see the Help documentation for more information), set OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL to the properties for you application. Set InitiateOAuth to the desired OAuth flow ("GETANDREFRESH" will have the connector manage the entire OAuth flow).

   Login (or Basic) Authentication

   If you do not wish do not wish to use OAuth authentication, you can use Login (or basic) authentication. Set AuthScheme to Basic, and set the User, Password, and SecurityToken properties. You can configure your security token in Salesforce.

   SSO (single sign-on) Authentication

   SSO (single sign-on) can be used by setting the SSOProperties, SSOLoginUrl, and SSOExchangeURL connection properties, which allow you to authenticate to an identity provider. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the Help documentation for more information.

   Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

   If your Salesforce org has MFA enforcement enabled, set MFACode to the time-based one-time passcode (TOTP) generated by your authenticator app (such as Salesforce Authenticator or Google Authenticator). MFACode applies to both OAuth and Login authentication flows.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Salesforce JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.salesforce.jar
   

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
   

   Below is a typical connection string:

   jdbc:salesforce:InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;MFACode=YourMFACode
   

   👁 Configuring the JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown).
   
4. Click "Test Connection ..." to ensure you have configured the connection properly. 👁 A successfully configured connection (Salesforce is shown).
   
5. Click "Finish."

Query Salesforce Data

You can now query information from the tables exposed by the connection: Right-click a Table and then click View Table. The data is available on the Data tab.

👁 The results of a query in DBeaver. (Salesforce is shown.)

More Information & Free Trial

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Salesforce and start working with your live Salesforce data in DBeaver. Join the CData Community or reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.